Bottles Not Carbing

[bum]

Got a weird one: opened a few 2 week old bottles last night and there is zero carbonation. Not light, not inadequate. Nothing.

A few weeks ago I had all my stock levels up and had nothing planned brew-wise. But I got bored so I decided to (finally) just put down the Coopers Lager tin with the brewing sugar that had both been gather dust since I bought the starter kit - can't ever hurt to have a Visitor's Brew sitting around, right? Chucked in maybe 150g of light crystal and I think 10g of Amarillo @ 10 min (I'm looking at it as a training beer for my unwashed mates). Kit yeast. Ferment went fine - good temps, good FG, 2 weeks in the fridge, the last week at lower temps and gelatine the last few days. Bottled half the batch with carb lollies the other with castor sugar or dex (I didn't know there was gonna be a test, can't remember). First day or so in the cupboard was at 15deg but the rest of the 2 weeks they've been sitting at 18/19deg. No off flavours - it's actually not bad all things considered. Very thin mouthfeel but look at the recipe. Kinda sweet but I'm putting that down to un-used priming sugar and a bit to the crystal. All bottles are PET. Half the batch with brand new caps the other re-used.

First thing I'd think about suggesting to someone else in this situation was to invert the bottles to rouse the yeasties and bring the temps up (even though I reckon 18/19 should be on the money) but the thing is there is bugger all in the way of sediment in the bottles. Some bottles have a very fine layer at the bottom some have nothing I can see through the bottles.

Any ideas apart from the above?

 

[Adamt]

"Bottles Not Carbing by bum"... Ahh, you did also try priming.

Give it another week or two at least before worrying.

 

[bum]

Well, the plan is to just sit on it but based on prior experience (with basically identical conditions) 2 weeks has some form of fizz. And I forgot to mention - the bottles firmed up within maybe 3 days but still flat as a tack. Even pouring from a height of about 30cm into headmasters couldn't force a head on to it. No c02 rising from the etchings at all. Seems strange but I guess I'll RA(N)HAHB.

[edit: more words = makes more sense]

 

[tcraig20]

Stop telling fibs Bum. You are really just bait Chappo, arent you?

Try giving the bottles a tip or two - bring some of the yeast into suspension.

 

[bum]

That's the plan but it really doesn't look like all that much has settled out (if any in some bottles).

I'm gonna tip them and move them into the loungeroom. See how that goes.

 

[Bribie G]

Probably what's happened is that:

Coopers ordinary cooking yeast is AFAIK Mauri ale 514 made in Toowoomba. If you think that Nottingham is a Rottweiler then 514 is a pack of wolves. Then it drops out nicely.
Your prolonged cold crash and gelatine have dragged nearly all of it out of suspension and you have ended up with (here's a photo taken on bottling day itself)



However there's still got to be some yeasties in there so tipping and mixing is a good idea. The other thing that can happen is that a layer of very thick syrupy stuff from the carb lolly or sugar can persist at the bottom of the bottle for a few days and put any yeast that settles out into a coma as well. You can see this if you tip the bottle after a few days and, looking against the light you will see a swirly effect from the dissolved sugar syrup.

Can take up to a month to breed up some conditioning yeasties, had the identical problem with a UK bitter (fined and polyclared) that has taken 5 weeks to get fizzy enough. The good news is that when you get a critical mass, it goes 'runaway' and can take just a week from that point.

 

[bum]

I was kind of worried that be what happened because they bottled very clear and as mentioned there is bugger all in the way of sediment in the bottles now. I though that was maybe being a little paranoid but you're probably on the money. I did notice the syrupy layer in some bottles the second day so give them all a swirl at the time.

If I do use the kit yeast again I'll make sure I don't cold crash as long or fine, see how that goes. Now that I'm thinking about it I may have even crashed for about a week and a half because I couldn't bottle when I intended to.

 

[Nick JD]

These days if I start pouring into bottles and it's crystal-clear, the fermenter gets a damn good shake.

Two reasons: I hate waiting a month to drink the stuff, and it seems to get tastier, quicker (perhaps the excess yeast working on the bad juju chemicals).

 

[cozmocracker]

i have the same problem, my bottles have been conditioning for 4 weeks and theres no sediment and not one bubble. i primed each bottle with sugar, the yeast was wyeast 1084, i did cold chill and gelatine, the bottles have probally been sitting at about 15 degrees(its getting cold in canberra). i will try inverting and moving to a warmer position but if that fails whats the next step?

 

[kegpig]

I had the same problem i thought i had an issue then i put a light globe in an old fridge temp came up to 24, 3 weeks later im drinking with great head retension :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Bribie G]

I've found that some liquid yeasts are a bit hopeless at 'waking up' and doing a carb job. I made 2 identical brews with 1768, bottled them fairly clear and they are still carbing up after 5 weeks which is frustrating I know. On the other hand I have been experimenting with Mauri dried yeasts because they are fast and furious, and the brews I bottled only 2 weeks ago are now fully carbed - I bottled one for a comp on a Tuesday and it got judged on the Thursday the following week (9 days) and it was judged perfect on carbonation.

Cosmo I would suggest getting a pack of Coopers kit yeast (I'll post you one if you like, just bought a swag of Coopers Stout at $9 a pop from IGA to do toucans and will be using S-04 so have heaps of spare 514) and put a few grains in each bottle and recap. Should go off like a maniac.

 

[mwd]

I think Bribie had the answer. The priming sugar not dissolved properly.
I believe too much sugar kills off yeast. You end up with a tiny bit of yeast and a layer of syrup at the bottom of the bottle.

I know they say with carb drops no need to agitate to dissolve but...

Whenever I bottle using dex now I always give the bottles a good few inversions or the old maracas treatment until everything is dissolved properly.

Shake rattle roll= Oxidisation complete old wives tale if the bottles are full to the last 15mm.

PS up here where it is warm my PET bottles are hard after only 4 days. I usually sample one after a week just because I am impatient don't fancy waiting a month if I made something nasty. :icon_cheers:

 

[Hasa]

I've got a question about bottles not carbing, which isn't covered in this thread, and was unable to be resolved through searching, so here goes...

I've done two brews of Cooper's Ginger Beer (ordinary K&K), and primed with the Cooper's carbonation drops. Both taste as good as can be expected from a kit, but both are completely flat.

The first GB was bottled on the 27/04/09, the second on the 21/05/09, so they have had plenty of time to bottle condition to the point where they should at least have some bubbles appearing

It might have something to do with the yeast that Coopers includes in their GB kits, because I did a batch of Cooper's Australian Pale Ale (bottled on the 3/05/09) that carbed up fine under the same temperature conditions <_<

It has been cold in the last month or so, but that doesn't help explain why one type of beer carbed up fine, while two GBs didn't. Has anyone else had any problems with the Cooper's GB kit at all?

Any help, guidance or insights will be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I'm new to the forum

 

[bum]

Hey, welcome aboard!

I've found that GBs take longer to carb up than beer. I wouldn't worry about those yet. GBs taste better the longer you leave them anyway (i.e. months). Good luck with it.

Quick update on the situation above - they're still barely carbed after keeping heat on them and agitating the yeast. Oh well, the beer is pretty crap anyway so I'll just leave them for a long time and see what's up later.

 

[bum]

Just to hopefully put other noobs' minds at ease, these beers are only just getting to an acceptable level of carbing now.

I'll also present a lesson in patience - there's only 8 left after all my "testers".

 

[warra48]

I brewed a Bitter with WY1968 on 24 April.
Bottled on 13 May, and the beer was very clear.

I agitated all the bottles again a few weeks after bottling to suspend the yeast and sugar.

It's only now properly carbed up, 2 months later.

At this time if the year particularly, you need patience.

 

[rendo]

Hi All,

Especially those with FLAT beer. In feb 2009, i bottled a coopers aust pale ale. I added all sorts of stuff in, OG of 1065!! FG of 1010. Its a nice one.

EXCEPT IT WAS FLAT!! DEAD FLAT!!! 2weeks, 4 weeks, 6weeks, 10 weeks...NOTHING!!! Tasted nice, but I was not happy. I "ALMOST" opened and pour every bottle down the drain or at least on the garden. But I didnt. I just put it all away in a corner and left it.

Its now July and its completely carbonated!!! I dont know when, how or why......AND I dont care, but the lesson is patience. Especially in the colder months


Rendo